Daytona International Speedway to reinforce crossover gates

The fencing that gave way when car debris sprayed into the grandstands and injured more than 30 fans during a February race will be reinforced by cables before the July 6 Coke Zero 400.

GODWIN KELLYMOTORSPORTS EDITOR

DAYTONA BEACH -- The fencing that gave way when car debris sprayed into the grandstands and injured more than 30 fans during a February race at Daytona International Speedway will be reinforced by cables before the July 6 Coke Zero 400, track President Joie Chitwood III said Wednesday. No other major changes — including the option of slowing down the race cars — were announced by Chitwood, NASCAR or International Speedway Corp., DIS' owner, during the teleconference. Daytona plans to have the stronger fencing in place by the end of May, Chitwood said. Daytona's sister track, Talladega Superspeedway, which hosts a Sprint Cup Series race next weekend, has already made the safety changes. Chitwood said the tracks decided to make the change to its eight crossover gates — which are built into the track's fence system — after a recommendation from HNTB, a third-party structural engineering firm from Lake Mary that helped with the investigation. Crossover gates allow fans and officials to move from the grandstands to the infield — and vice versa — before and after racing events. Each gate features a set of portable metal stairs that is lowered from the grandstand area to the track surface. Chitwood said DIS also would install tethering between the gate frame and posts of the crossover areas. According to Chitwood, the addition of the cables “would create a redundant system to enhance continuity to the gate area.'' Chitwood said the cables for the crossover sections are the same size as the existing cables on the other sections of the fencing at Daytona and Talladega. The accident that sparked the investigation happened on the last lap of the DRIVE4COPD Nationwide Series race Feb. 23. Stock cars were pushing and bumping for position, which led to a 12-car wreck. Rookie Kyle Larson's No. 32 Chevy went airborne and slammed into the fence, breaking in half. Larson's engine block punctured the fence, sending debris into the stands and injuring more than 30 spectators, including several critically. Larson was not hurt, which was cited as a testament to the car's safety. “The biggest thing — we had fans injured, and we don't take that lightly — the driver was able to get out and walk away,” NASCAR senior vice president Steve O'Donnell said. “That is the car's No. 1 job when it has that type of impact. We are breaking down every part and piece to see if there's anything we can learn.”

When asked about the height of the fence and the possiblity that a tire had flown over the fence, O'Donnell said NASCAR's reviews of the accident convinced them that the debris came through the fence, not over it.

“No wheels went over the fence,” he said.

NASCAR took Larson's car to its Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., for a thorough examination and to remove information from the car's incident data recorder file, commonly known in aviation as the “black box.” “The information we provided (to Daytona) was the No. 32 car's impact speed, its acceleration, impact angle, the impact time and change in vehicle speed during the incident,” said O'Donnell, who didn't release any of that information Wednesday. Based on the NASCAR data, ISC then hired HNTB to review the crossover gate and strengthen the structure. Chitwood said a second engineering firm, Walter P Moore, was hired to perform a peer review. Removing the crossover gates was never in the discussion, according to Chitwood. “Crossover gates have been in our business for a long time, and they serve a purpose for fans and industry personnel,” he said, adding later: “We feel really good with their recommendation to improve the crossover gates and keep the gates.” Chitwood said no race fans with seats in February's debris zone area have asked to relocate seats. The main grandstand stretches 9/10ths of a mile and holds 110,000 spectators. “Same here for Talladega,” said Talladega chairman Grant Lynch. “I don't know any requests to move seats.” Attorney Matt Morgan, who is representing six fans injured in the Feb. 23 accident, said no claims have yet been filed for them.

Morgan said one client, Whitney Turner of Tell City, Ind., still has to undergo more surgeries, and once those are done, the firm will file with the insurance companies.

“Our clients wish they would've made these changes before the Nationwide race,” Morgan said.